1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bumper assembly of a mobile robot, and more particularly, to a bumper assembly of a mobile robot capable of accurately sensing a broadside collision as well as a head-on collision when the mobile robot collides with an obstacle.
2. Description of Related Art
A mobile robot refers to a robot that may run autonomously and perform specific tasks, and there are a cleaning robot, a monitoring robot, and the like in accordance with tasks to be performed. The mobile robot generally has a function capable of autonomously performing assigned tasks, for example, cleaning work or monitoring work.
When describing a cleaning mobile robot as an example, the cleaning mobile robot autonomously moves in a predetermined cleaning zone such as a house or an office, and sucks dust or foreign substances. To this end, in addition to a configuration of a general vacuum cleaner that sucks dust or foreign substances, the mobile robot includes a moving device which allows a robot to move, a plurality of sensing sensors that senses obstacles so that the robot may run without colliding with various obstacles in the cleaning zone, a battery which supplies electric power, a microprocessor which controls the entire apparatus, and the like.
Particularly, the mobile robot uses a plurality of sensing sensors to identify a distance to various types of obstacles, for example, obstacles such as furniture, and walls, which are installed in the cleaning zone, and cleans the cleaning zone while running without colliding with the obstacles using identified information. Therefore, a capability of sensing obstacles is very important in order for the mobile robot to perform given tasks while autonomously running. That is, it is essential that the mobile robot has a function of recognizing positions of obstacles at the periphery of the mobile robot so as to allow the mobile robot to move without colliding with the obstacles, and immediately sensing a collision when the mobile robot collides with the obstacle so as to change a moving route.
As a method of sensing whether a mobile robot collides with an obstacle, there is a method of providing sensors on an inner circumferential surface of a bumper of the mobile robot and allowing the sensors to sense a collision with the obstacle. However, the sensors are disposed at a predetermined interval along the inner circumferential surface of the bumper, and thus, there is a problem in that the collision may not be sensed when a portion where the sensor is not attached collides with the obstacle. As another method of sensing a collision with the obstacle, there is a method of configuring a bumper of a mobile robot to be movable in front and rear directions with respect to a robot body, and allowing a sensor to sense a movement of the bumper when the mobile robot collides with the obstacle and then the bumper is pushed in the rear direction. However, this method may sense a head-on collision well, but there is a problem in that this method may not sense a broadside collision.